Harmony

     Every musician’s dream is to play at the Sheldon and we are so fortunate to be able to perform at St. Louis’ best sounding venue  this Tuesday at 7pm.  We are releasing our new CD, Almost Always, which has 17 original songs. We will be also play some songs from our first CD, Shelter from the Storm, and sing and play some of our favorite covers.

     We are so lucky to be sharing the stage with 2 wonderful musicians: Donita Bauer, a talented Bassoonist and Pianist who has created some beautiful melodies and arrangements and Glynelle Wells, vocalist and pedal steel guitarist who has taken our sound to a new and exciting level.

   Free parking can be found on the west side of the building and tickets are $10 at the door. There will be no intermission and the concert should last around 90 minutes.

     Hope to see you at the Sheldon!

    This NOTES FROM HOME concert is a CD release show for HARMONY’s brand new recording, ALMOST ALWAYS. The 18-song disc features original acoustic songs from Jim Ford, Steve Galati, Butch Getz, Amy Goldschmidt, Chuck Ashley and includes a special appearance by John Foley, S.J. performing his 40-year old song, “Soft Summer Air”. This beautiful love song was performed once in concert and never recorded until now!

    Jim           Steve      Glynelle    Donita

Harmony's Comforting,

Amiable Sound

by Kevin Renick

One of music's primary purposes is to comfort the listener during stressful times. The acoustic duo Harmony, comprised of veteran local performers Jim Ford and Steve Galati, know this instinctively; a tone of reassurance and gentle warmth comes through in all they do, as showcased on their brand-new CD Almost Always. They even titled last year's debut Shelter From the Storm, for they seek exactly that from their own musicmaking, and invite listeners to do the same. Both Ford and Galati, who first performed as Harmony for an 8-year stretch between the late 70s and mid 80s, have music in their blood-and despite careers as educators through the years, when the muse knocks upon their door, they not only answer, they invite it inside for a festive celebration.

"I think about music all the time," said Ford, gearing up for the duo's Sept. 7 CD release show at the Sheldon Concert Hall. "I approach my world through a musical chord that is embedded in my psyche. In my mind I hear songs and create songs every day."

Ford has an eye for the sort of detail that inspires songs: on the previous recording, church pews, a lighthouse in Maine, a bus ride to New Orleans and St. Louis trademarks such as ravioli, baseball and beer infused the compositions. Almost Always features songs about a plane trip ( "The Plane Ride") Ford's young granddaughter Eliza ("Good Night Eliza"), an unsettling dream ("Ghost In My Dreams," one of the disc's most compelling songs) and a recitation of events from 2009 missed by a colleague recuperating from an illness (the lively, R.E.M.-styled "While You Were Out"). The wry "Last Pew" serves as a sort of sequel to Shelter's "First Pew," and it's a better song in some ways-wittier and more relaxed. The title track itself is a catchy, reggae-flavored number that showcases the bassoon playing of Donita Bauer, one of the secret weapons on Harmony's new work. You don't often hear bassoon on modern pop/folk albums, and Bauer's animated stylings on the instrument grab the ears every time they appear, which is quite often. Ford's eyes light up when he talks about Bauer's playing. A listening session for the new record spotlighted some of the differences in the arrangements and the sound from the debut.

"The first Harmony CD was recorded with a full band sound, which included drums, electric bass, electric guitar and synthesizer," Ford explained. "This time around, we wanted an acoustic approach to the music, so only a Martin acoustic guitar was used along with a grand piano and bassoon. By going acoustic, we wanted to highlight the songs, the songwriting and the vocal harmonies."

Galati handles the lion's share of lead vocals on Almost Always, showcasing a resonant maturity on tunes such as "Magic in You and I" and the aforementioned "Ghost In My Dreams," which is actually quite haunting. But Harmony are known for, well, harmonies, and the blend of Ford's and Galati's vocals is plentiful throughout. A few more lead vocals by Ford, who has an engagingly relaxed voice himself, would have been nice-but overall, Almost Always shows a musical and stylistic step forward from the band's debut. And there is a pronounced yet subtle spiritual underpinning to the songs, something the introspective Ford is happy to acknowledge.

"I've been able to express some of my deepest feelings about my loved ones through my music, and to articulate my outrage at the injustices of the world," he said. "My music has been instrumental in my faith journey. In the end, I hope my songwriting will help me become a better person."

The values and aesthetic showcased in Harmony's music are the old-fashioned ones: peace, love, being good neighbors, appreciating the small gifts of life, and keeping a sense of wonder about life's journey. It's Almost Always a good idea to celebrate such things in song, and Harmony are most certainly on the case...

Harmony will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m., where copies of their new CD will be available.